SLR cameras??

[Muleyman]

I am thinking of getting an SLR camera and would like to start getting into photography a little. I have been looking at SLR cameras a little. I dont want to spend much over $500. Just something to start me out. What would you guys reccomend for me?

Any response would be helpful!

Carson

[Shaun_300]

I have a Sony a200, it's about 3 years old with no issues. Works great and takes great pictures. I just checked the future shop website, and the new version of mine is a Sony a230, it's $499.99. That's the one I'd go with, it's about the cheapest SLR you can get. It comes with a 18-55mm lens. At the time mine came with a 18-70mm, similar but a bit more zoom. Then after a year or so I bought a 75-300mm lens for the long range shots.

Here's a few pics from mine,

This is a tame hawk at my gran's, loved chasing the chipmunks. It was funny to watch him. He was hiding in the tree above where he is, saw a chipmunk come out of the hole and pounced, missed him. Then he just stood there looking at the hole, looked like he was saying "get back out here you little bugger!!!!"

Here's a couple good pics to compare the zooms. This is on 18mm, maybe a touch higher.

Now I popped the other lens on and cranked it up to 300mm or a bit under. Aimed just a bit to the right of the center of the last pic. Note the car on the highway way down there. In the first pic, that'd be on the right side of the shadow just before the lake. It's about 1.5km from where I was standing.

That should give you an idea on picture quality Carson, check out the a230 on the www.futureshop.ca website. You can order right from the website. It'd save you driving to Regina, probably your closest future shop store.

[Muleyman]

Thanks alot Shaun. I will consider it forsure. But man those are some great quality pictures. Im gonna keep looking around a bit yet though. Defintly is on the top of my list though.

[Jorden]

Check out www.bhphoto.com. The offer some pretty good deals. I was looking on there the other day and they had a Canon Rebel with a 18-55mm and 55-300mm lense combo for $600.

[billkay]

I would stick with either a Nikon or Canon system. Sony makes good stuff but everything is proprietory, ie batteries, memory sticks, etc. Both companies have systems that can be upgraded at any point and will still be able to use your original gear. Personally, all my stuff is Nikon.

[Jeramie]

I agree with Bill. Nikon and Canon seem to be the most popular.

I bought a Nikon D40 a few years back. Had great luck with it. Battery life is great, good quality shots with the stock lense. Im thinking of upgrading in the near future im so hooked now..

Here are a few shots from the Nikon D40.

[wtnhunt]

Sony dslr's were based from minolta's maxxum line and use minolta's single lense reflex 35 mm lenses as well. The sony cams are good solid cams, lenses and accessories are plentiful. Not sure on the newer sony dslr's but the older ones took compact flash media and also supported micro drive. I stayed with the minolta dslr and got my 5d back when they first came out because I already had a few minolta lenses. No complaints about that camera, just wish I had held off a bit as the sony alpha line with higher mp units came out at lower prices within a year after getting my camera.

That said, don't think you could go wrong with nikon or canon either.

[Jeramie]

just wish I had held off a bit as the sony alpha line with higher mp units came out at lower prices within a year after getting my camera.

Isnt that the case with any electronic!

Seriously.... buy a big new tv and within a year a bigger/ better model will be out. The same can be said for Computers, radios, phones.......

[Muleyman]

Thanks for the help guys!

[WhitetailHunter20]

I have the Nikon D40. The camera works great. I have both the 18 to 55mm lens that comes with the camera and a Nikon lens that is 55 to 200mm. Both of these lenses work awesome. I also have a cheaper telephoto lens that is a 650 to 1300mm zoom with a 2x telephoto converter. I don't use the 2x converter much as it absorbs a lot of light and I don't need that much zoom. The camera uses all of these lenses extremely well. Overall it’s a very good camera. I love my D40 great pics.

[hoosierhunter]

I would recommend buying a Canon Rebel T1i camera that is slightly used. There are a TON for sale right now b/c people need money. It's a 800 dollar camera new, but can be picked up for a lot less with probably under 1k pictures on the camera.